Tennis news – Danielle Collins on Novak Djokovic: ‘Easy to turn down US Open if you’ve earned $150m’

Djokovic says he will consider skipping this year's US Open due to the restrictions they are intending to introduce to limit the spread of coronavirus.

In an interview with the Serbian state broadcaster, the men’s world number one said: "For me currently, as things stand, most probably the season will continue on clay at the beginning of September."

The US Open is scheduled to begin on August 31, and Collins says the tournament will allow players to earn money once more, for those further down the tennis ladder.

“This is a serious contradiction to previous comments about having players inside the top 100 donate their money to players outside of the top 250,” Collins said on her Instagram story, referring to Djokovic’s

“No one has been able to play sanctioned events or make money since February. Here we have an awesome opportunity with the US Open talking about proceeding forward with the event, with some strict safety precautions to make sure all players feel safe and their health is put first.

“This is a massive opportunity for players to start making money again, and here we have the top player in the world saying only being able to bring one person with [them into the stadium] will be too difficult because he won’t be able to bring his entourage.

“If it’s safe to play, and the USTA, WTA, and ATP do everything in their ability to prioritise the health of players, I think we should support that.

“For those of us (most tennis players) who don’t travel with an entourage, we actually need to start working again. It would be nice to have the best player in the world supporting this opportunity and not spoiling it for players and fans!”

Last week, Djokovic, the three-time US Open champion - in 2011, 2015 and 2018 - described the tournament's proposed hygiene restrictions as "extreme" and that capping support teams is "impossible".

That was met with criticism from British No 1 Dan Evans, who told the BBC: "There has to be a bit of give and take from the players.

“I don't think having one person of your team only allowed is such a big deal - the majority of the draw would only travel with one coach.

"Not everyone's travelling with physios and fitness trainers like Novak said, so I think his argument there is not really valid for the rest of the draw, apart from the real top guys."